KEEPING THE FAITH

it was also the place Nick met his future wife. Not long after their marriage, Nick put in a sabbatical at the bank he was working for and the couple spent an eye-opening period travelling south-east Asia together. “It felt to me like God was directing my life, changing my life for the better and putting me on the path he wants me to be on.”

A step into recruitment came next, taking up a sales position with Barnsley-based firm Kinetic, who specialise in filling roles in manufacturing, engineering and technical markets. Again, it provided ample vital experience, particularly when it came to the recruitment sector, and it was here that Nick first began thinking about becoming the architect of his own destiny.

“I’m a big believer in what you put in is what you get out in the end. Now, that doesn’t always apply to recruitment because it can be very volatile; there are definitely a lot of ‘you win some, you lose some’ moments in that industry. So, I found out quickly that I had to be quite thick-skinned, but

I also kicked on with building a lot of relationships with new clients. Kinetic were a nice company to work for, and I still speak to a lot of people there as friends, but I had two kids at the time and the idea of starting my own company started to grow stronger.”

When COVID hit, Nick volunteered for furlough, using the spare time to be with his family, mentally recharging and going out for runs as a means to clear his head. Feeling fully refreshed, it wasn’t long before he was in discussions with a friend about starting up their own recruitment company. In October 2020, Lodestone Recruitment LTD was officially incorporated.

Despite a good first year, and even though his business partner had contributed to where they were, Nick came to the conclusion that something had to change and opened discussions to buy out his business partner.

“It was a hugely difficult process and a real wakeup call for me,” he reflects. “Once that was all sorted, I had to formulate a strategy of picking the business up, but I was confident that I could do it. I had a system in place and that summer I really got into the trenches and worked incredibly hard. It went well; I filled loads of jobs and kept clients happy - so much so that I was able to finish early in December, which was great as I was exhausted, and this gave me time again to recharge with my family.”

Even though plenty of positive progress has been made, Nick says Lodestone hasn’t been impervious to the challenges posed by Brexit and the cost-of-living crisis. He concedes that the start of the year was a slow one, and recruitment as an industry needs to see concessions made by both employers and recruiters to adapt to the challenges facing the marketplace.

He explains: “The cost-ofliving crisis has made better salaries high on people’s priority list, while rising fuel costs have meant more people want jobs closer to home – or working from home – if possible. Good pensions are even more important for security these days. I think COVID lockdowns have given a lot of people time to re-evaluate exactly what people want from a job. So, companies today are thinking more about what candidates want; and as a recruiter, I need to be working hard to offer advice and getting the company value for their money - it’s not about taking a fee and running off into the sunset. My job satisfaction comes a few months down the line when you find out that the candidate is a good fit and you’ve potentially helped them into a life-changing move. That’s why we do it. When I am looking to build my own team, that's something I want to instil in new recruits to the business.”

For more information on how Lodestone Recruitment can help you, head to lodestonerecruitment.co.uk or contact@lodestonerecruitment.co.uk